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New law will boost quality of sponsors

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Saturday February 1, 2014 5:13 AM

I respond to the Jan. 12
Dispatch story “Charter failure,” and to the follow-up editorial of Jan. 15, “Failure to
launch.”

First, I’d like to correct a factual error that appeared in a chart published with the story,
regarding the closure of the Academy of Columbus.

This school opened in 2005 and was sponsored for one year by Buckeye Community Hope
Foundation.

The school did not close as “required by law,” but rather as a result of formal action taken by
the school’s board of directors.

The board made the choice to close the school primarily in response to the school’s failure in
its duty for academic performance.

To ensure that only those schools with the best chance for success open, the foundation has a
rigorous application process for vetting new school proposals, and provides both general and
individualized technical assistance to support the growth and success of its schools.

It shares its best practices with other members of the statewide sponsoring association.

The foundation, along with other sponsoring organizations, has worked closely with the Ohio
Department of Education to develop a rigorous assessment of sponsor performance, based on the
National Association of Charter School Authorizers’ quality principles and standards: sponsor
compliance with rule and law, sponsor quality practices and academic performance of sponsored
schools.

This new assessment process, slated for full implementation in 2015, will access all sponsors,
including nonprofits, educational service centers and universities and their designees.

I believe these assessments will improve sponsor quality in Ohio.

A law also was passed last year to grant the Ohio Department of Education greater authority to
take action, as needed, against sponsors that fail to adequately fulfill their duties.

Under the new law, the department may place sponsors on probation and demand corrective action
plans, subject to state approval, to address deficiencies.

The foundation applauds the Ohio House and Senate for enacting these laws aimed at improving the
performance of charter-school sponsors.